Presently available in-vitro diagnostic (IVD) devices are used in various medical settings to detect the presence of numerous types of biological conditions, such as the presence of infection antibodies, quickly and reliably. Known IVD devices are used in hospitals, clinics, doctors' offices, and other patient care facilities to enable rapid detection and identification of potentially harmful conditions in patients presenting at these facilities.
One type of IVD device is configured to read or otherwise analyze lateral flow assays, which can test for a wide variety of medical and environmental conditions or compounds. For example, lateral flow tests can rely on a form of immunoassay in which the test sample flows along a solid substrate via capillary action. Known IVD devices can read lateral flow assay strips to detect the existence of a hormone, metabolite, toxin, or pathogen-derived antigen. This reading can be accomplished with the use of an imager, such as a CMOS imager or a CCD-based imaging device, which is configured to detect the presence or absence of a line on the lateral flow assay based on the presence or absence of a visual line on the assay. Some tests, implemented by IVD devices, are designed to make a quantitative determination, but in many circumstances the tests are designed to return or indicate a positive/negative qualitative indication. Examples of assays that enable such qualitative analysis include blood typing, most types of urinalysis, pregnancy tests, and AIDS tests.
Certain known IVD devices (including known assay test strip reader devices) are configured to report, store, and/or transmit diagnostic information determined solely resulting from a diagnostic test and not provided by a source external to the IVD device. That is, certain known IVD devices are configured to report, store, or transmit information related to the infection or other condition tested for, as well as to report, store, or transmit additional information manually entered by patient care personnel assisting in the use of the IVD devices. Some IVD devices are provided as stand-alone devices—that is, they perform infection detection by autonomously following a pre-programmed decision-making process or rule. For each test performed by such an IVD device, the same process is undertaken, and a result is generated in the same way. Moreover, in known IVD devices, a built-in or integrated display is used to display the results of the test, and the results may also be printed using a built-in or attached printer.
Many known IVD devices are not configured to send or receive data to or from any source external to the IVD device. In such devices, the only output enabled by the IVD devices is to display the results of a test on an integrated display. Certain other known IVD devices are configured to exchange data with another device, remote from the IVD device, through a short-range wired or wireless connection. For example, known IVD devices may exchange data with another device through a USB, serial, or proprietary wired connection, or through a Bluetooth, Wireless USB, or proprietary wireless connection. Finally, certain known IVD devices are configured to connect to a local area network (e.g., LAN) through a wired (e.g., Ethernet) or wireless (e.g., WiFi or ZigBee) connection.
Known IVD devices suffer from many drawbacks. First, known IVD devices suffer from drawbacks in that any data used by known IVD devices to generate outcomes or test results must either be determined by the device as a part of the analysis of the test results, or must be manually entered by medical personnel or other users of the IVD device. This manual entry is frequently limited, and involves the use of a keyboard or a barcode scanner. Even if such data is manually entered, known IVD devices suffer from drawbacks in that the correctness of the entered data is questionable, and in fact may be in jeopardy, depending upon the mechanism for entering data and/or the care given to the correct entry of data by the user of the IVD device. Finally, known IVD devices suffer from drawbacks in that they are limited to receiving and utilizing only that data and/or information known to the individual entering the information into the device. Other information (such as information obtainable from medical or other databases or information repositories, or from a device manufacturer) is not available for use by the IVD device in generating its results.
Further, known IVD devices suffer from drawbacks in that the limited connectivity options provided with such IVD devices prevents the devices from forming ad-hoc networks and connecting directly to other IVD devices or network elements. To the extent that network capabilities are provided, data generated by IVD devices is limited to transmission within a given patient care facility. Moreover, a patient care facility which enables connection of IVD devices to a network must operate an appropriate LAN or other network, and must provide infrastructure for integrating and maintaining IVD devices within the network, both of which can be costly endeavors. Finally, even with known network-enabled IVD devices, manual interaction is required to access the test results generated by an IVD device and to store it electronically in an appropriate medical facility database. For example, manual intervention is required in known IVD devices to upload data indicative of an outcome of a diagnostic test from an IVD device and store it in an appropriate Hospital Information System (HIS) or Laboratory Information System (LIS) database.
Known IVD devices do not provide a mechanism to enable near-patient testing results to be provided to a centralized server for analysis, aggregation, and distribution using an established public network, such as a public telephone network. Moreover, known IVD devices do not provide a mechanism by which a centralized server can track, manage, and determine characteristics of those IVD devices to ensure appropriate use of the devices and appropriate use of environmental data detected by the IVD devices.
Thus, it is desirable to create IVD devices that are configured to receive and store data from sources external to the individuals utilizing the IVD devices, in addition to data currently gathered by known IVD devices, and to utilize the data received from external sources to supplement the analysis capabilities of the IVD device, such as by confirming or verifying part of the diagnostic information generated by the IVD device. It is further desirable to create IVD devices that are network-ready, such that the devices can connect to a network (such as the Internet) and obtain external data independent from the actual test being performed. It is also desirable to create an IVD device that is capable of sending or uploading data to a remote repository via a network, such that data about the tests performed with such IVD devices can be stored and analyzed, alone or in the aggregate, by remote devices or personnel. Finally, it is desirable to provide an IVD device that includes a built-in mechanism for accessing publicly available networks, such as telephone or cellular networks, to enable direct communication by the IVD device with network elements or other IVD devices to enable electronic test result transmission, storage, analysis and/or dissemination without requiring separate intervention or action by the user of the IVD device.